Uncle Tom's Cabin - American History, 1493-1945

Harriet Beecher Stowe to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha regarding her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin

20 March 1852

View the letter from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha regarding her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin in the resource

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in its entirety for the first time in March 1852. The novel follows an enslaved African-American and the stories of the people he meets. Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it was imbued with a strong abolitionist and religious message, and sought to bring greater awareness of the horrors of slavery to northern states.

This letter accompanied a first edition of the book that was sent to the incumbent British rulers, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In the letter, Stowe holds up Britain, and the royal couple in particular, as moral exemplars for Americans. She admits that "in less enlightened days both English and America were unjust" to those she refers to as "an oppressed race". However, Britain had reformed, and led the way in the cause of human freedom. The essential role of Britain in clamping down on the international slave trade, and the banning of slavery in all parts of the British Empire in 1833, no doubt played on Stowe’s mind when she wrote these words. By way of contrast, the mention of "fugitives by thousands … crowding British shores" pointed towards the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. This made it illegal to aid or assist an enslaved person who had fled the southern states; as a result, many runaways had no choice but to make for British Canada or even overseas.

Stowe’s character as an author infuses this letter. Regular references to God reveal her intense religiosity. The daughter of a New England preacher, Stowe was a dedicated Christian, who built her spiritual beliefs and principles into Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The appeal to the queen also resonates with the writer’s character, as in her novel women often provide the moral yardstick and offer the best advice for good Christian behavior and attitudes.

This letter also demonstrates Stowe’s dedication to the abolitionist cause. In this field she was remarkably influential. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written to convince a northern audience of the necessity of ending the institution of slavery. It had phenomenal sales figures, topping 300,000 in the U.S. and 1 million in Britain over the course of the nineteenth century. The novel is often credited as being a step towards the Civil War. It caused mass consternation in the southern states, with many proclaiming it false and slanderous. Accusations of a lack of experience of true southern life were met by Stowe offering evidence of real-life experiences on which she had based her characters. In the north, the novel added impetus and direction to the abolition movement. It focused anger on the institution of slavery and the legal framework that protected it. As this letter shows, furthering the cause of abolition through the pursuit of Christian morals chimed with the personality and aims of the author who wrote the book.

Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin